Apparel belt or chain



Oct. 12, 1948. c. G. MARQUARDT 2,451,397

APPAREL BELT R CHAIN Filed Sept. 28, 1945 Ill-II -n 1 A nllalim l-r l 5v 6 k 70 72} 7g 2'4 7 g s I l M77 ll El 20 71' 3Q 20 70 1| 1 F 1 /C 72 INVENTOR i2 75 76 FM 2 70 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 12, 1948 APPAREL BELT'OR CHAIN,

Carl G. Marquardt, Chatha-m, N. J assignor to Sterling Injection Molding, Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

Application September 28, 1945, Serial No. 619,211

7 Claims. (Cl. 2-338) This invention relates to improvements in apparel belts or chainlike articles intended particularly for ornamentation of ladies wearing apparel.

2' links and connecting links pivotally connected, and the ends of the chainlike structure of the belt are connected to 'a pair of buckle members which may be connected in any suitable manner,

One of the objects of this invention is to pro- 5 for example, by means of an endless chain which vide a belt or chain of ornamental appearance, makes it possible to vary the'length of the belt which can be readily manufactured of molded to a considerable extent. i plastic materials. Another object is to provide The main links of the chain each comprise a a belt or chainlike article of this type, the links pair of bar portions l0 extending lengthwise of of which are constructed so that they can be '10 the belt and spaced apart. These bar portions readily assembled to form a complete article. A are connected adjacent to their ends by' means further object is to provide a belt oi.this kind of pivot or axle portions ll. Preferably the belt with buckles or fastening members of improved is made of molded plastic material, and the pivot and simplified construction for use in connector axle portions and bar portions are of such ing the ends of the belt. A further object is to form that they may be molded in one piece. provide a belt of this type with an improved con- Preferably the pivot or axle portions are made of nection between the ends of the belt, whereby the substantially circular cross section so' as to form length of the belt may be varied to suit'different pivots or bearing pins for the connecting links. wearers. Another object is to provide a belt of The bar p ti s 10 f t a l n s r p f rthis type in which the main links are cored out ably cored out or prov d d With longitudinally'exso that they can be made of light weight and so tending grooves l2 on their inner faces.- This that all of the outer surfaces of the belt'will be structure serves not only to lighten the links, but free from projections or roughness produced by also has the furtheradvantage that the usual the knock-out or ejector pins of the molding apknock-out or eject p of the ds Wh r paratus. Other objects and advantages of this move these links from the molds may be ar invention will appear from the following descripo en a t links W t t grooved Po t s tion and claims. l2 so that the outer and inner facesof the links In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate ay have Smooth and uninterrupted Surfaces by way of example one embodiment of this inwhich will not damage the fabrics of any dress vention: or other garment in connection with which the Fig. 1 is an edge view of the garment belt or belt may be worn. The bar portions of the links chainlike article embodying this invention. may be of any other suitable or desired shap Fig, 2 i a front elevation thereof, The connecting links have flat body portions l5,

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of a part of the belt. those s w y ay of example being f r tan- Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central sectional view ular shape and of such width that their ends fit thereof, on line 4-4, Fig. 3. between the bar portions of adjacent main links.

Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sectional views I These connecting l nks hav th ir nd p tions thereof, respectively on lines 5-5 and 6-45, Fig. 3. formed t cooperate w t the p v t axlev p Fig. '7 is a fragmentary rear elevation f the tions ll of the main links. In the construction end portions of the belt and showing the connec- 40 s w for t is pu s h n tin link is tion ot on t same, provided adjacent to each end thereof with an Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the links ut g which may be f m d between of the connecting chain for the ends of the belt. a p of bs extending from the y P lvly improvements are shown in the accompanytion of the connecting link in a direction transing drawings in the form of an ornamental garverse to the length of the chain. The two ribs ment belt, and the article will be hereinafter genare spaced apart to receive between them a pivot erally referred to as a belt, but it will be undermember ll of a main link. The undercut grooves stood that my improvements may be applied to between the ribs may be accomplished in any suitother chainlike articles, such as bracelets, neckable or desired manner, and in the construction laces, tie-backs for curtains, and for other purillustrated, the outer portions of the ribs l6 'facposes where chainlike articles may be used. It ing each other are slightly enlarged and extend will also be understood that certain structural toward each other, thus forming undercut-grooves details of my improvements may be varied withbetween adjacent ribs; The distance across the out departing from the spirit of this invention. open ends of the grooves is slightly less'than the The belt includes alternately arranged main diameter of the pivot portions of the main links,

shown in.

so that the main links will be held in the grooves between the ribs. These enlargements or inwardly extending portions of the ribs may be formed either by heating the ribs after molding of the same and after the pivot portions of adjacent main links have been placed between the ribs, to form the outer edges of the ribs over the pivot portions H of the main links, or if desired, the ribs [6 maybe molded so that the space between them is in the form of an undercut'groove. Many molded plastic materials are sufficiently resilient so that the pivot portions of the main links can readily be pressed into the space between adjacent ribs or past the reduced open portions of the slots. When this construction is employed, the chain can readily be formed by laying the connecting links -I with their fiat faces up, so that the ribs extend downwardly, and

placed over two adjacent main links with the pivot portions of each under the grooves of the connecting link, and then pressing the connecting links downwardly into place, so that the pivot portions of the main links are inthe undercut grooves. The ,links thus connected will freely swing about their pivotal connections and the .pivot portions Will be securely held in place between the ribs. Whenthe chain structure which has been described is used in connection with a garment belt, buckles are provided at the ends of the chainlike series of links, by means of which the ends of the belt may be connected. In the con struction shown for this purpose, apair of buckles is provided and one end of each buckle is formedto cooperate with the ends of the chainlike structure. The buckles may, consequently, either be formed" to connectwithadjacent main links or connecting links, and in the construction illustrated, the buckles are formed to connect with main links, each buckle being provided at one end thereof with an extension 2| which is formed similar to one end of a connecting link, this extension having an undercut groove 22 molded therein into which a pivot portion H of a main link may enter; The other end of each buckle 28 is provided with-suitable means for use in connecting the two buckles. In the construction shown for this purpose, the other end of each 'buckle is provided with a longitudinally extending portion 24, to the outer end of which a book .25 may be connected. In the construction illustrated by way of example, a hook 25 is provided on each buckle and the two hooks may then engage the links of a small endless connecting chain or other connecting means for holding the belt'in place. The hooks may be of any suitable structure, 'and in the construction illustrated, eachhook is provided with a stem portion 26 which may be secured tothe end extension 24 of a buckle, and for this purpose, the buckle is provided near the end thereof with a suitable holeZl-formed to receive the stem'26, and this ste" "may then be cemented in the hole. The res ljllti's" a strong and. rigid connection between 'the'buckle and the hook, which can be very easily formed by molding the buckle and the hook. her means for securing the hook or other up ting device on the buckles may be emconnecting chain may be of any suitable tructi'oh, and as shown is composed of a rality' of rigid links or rings 30 of a size so hat the hooks may readilyengage these links as 7.. This endless'chain may be of any desir ngth, and is of itself of ornamental ing thesame ith-soap and water.

appearance and makes it possible to vary the effective length of the belt to suit the particular wearer. For example, on one person a belt may be worn with the endless chain arranged as in Fig. '7, and in which the slack part of the chain hangs down from the buckles and forms an additional ornament. If the same belt is worn on a person of larger Waist measure, the endless chain may be applied as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. Con sequently, the endless connecting chain provides considerable leeway in fitting a belt to wearers of diiferent waist measure.

Preferably the alternate links 3! of the endless chain are made of portions of a coil of plastic material, at least two turns of a coil being used for each link. These links may be readily attached to the solid or disk-like links Si by separating the coils so as to pass a rigid link 35) between the same until it is in the ptsition shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 7. Aiiter the coil links as shown in Fig. 8 have been applied to a chain, the opening r s r ading of the coil links due to pressure applied 'togtliem maybe resisted by cementing the adjacent turns 01 the spiral together by any suitable cement. If the links are made of certain types of thermoplastic materials, the application of a small amount of solvent for the material may be used to cause-the adjacent turns of the coil links to become cemented or welded together. The garment belt described has the advantages that it is ornamental in appearance and the links can be madeof a'large variety of different colors by selecting appropriate plastic materialsof different colors. Any desired color combinations may be used both for the main links, the connecting links and the buckles 2D. The connecting links for the belts may "be made of any suitable color or combinations of colors. The belt when made of plastic material is, furthermore, of very light weight and is easily cleaned by merely wash:

As is characteristic of molded plastics, the colors extend throughout the material, andv conseque ntly, if the surface becomes worn away, the colors will still be the same asthe original links.

I claim as my invention:

1. An ornamental article comprising a plurality of alternately disposed main and connecting links, said main links each having longitudinally extending bar portions formed integral near their opposite ends with pivot portions, said connecting links having a pair of outwardly extending ribs at each end thereof which are spaced apart'to receive between them said pivot portions of adjacent links, the outer edges of said ribs extending toward each other to retain said pivot portions in place between said ribs, to permit turning of said main and connecting links relatively to each other. I

2. An ornamental article comprising a plurality of alternately disposed main and connecting links formed of molded plastic material, said main links each havinglongitudinally extending bar portions spaced apart and connected at their ,ends with transverse pivot portions formed integral with said bar portions, said connecting links having ribs at opposite ends thereof extending transversely of the length of said article and which are arranged in pairs and which are shaped to form between them undercut grooves of alternately disposed main and connecting links, said main links each having longitudinally extending bar portions formed integral near their opposite ends with pivot portions, said connecting links having undercut open-sided grooves formed in the end portions thereof into which the pivot portions of two adjacent main links extend, the open sides of said grooves being of less width than the diameter of said pivot portions and large enough so that said pivot portions may be inserted into their operative positions by flexing the material of said connecting links.

4. An ornamental article comprising a plurality of alternately disposed main and connecting links formed of plastic material, said main links each having longitudinally extending bar portions spaced apart and connected at their ends by pivot portions formed integral with said bar portions, said bar portions having grooves in the back faces thereof to enable the main links to be molded with smooth outer surfaces and with the irregular surfaces formed by means of knock-out pins located within said grooves, and connecting links engaging said pivot portions of the main links.

5. A garment belt comprising a portion made of alternately arranged main links and connecting links pivotally connected to each other, buckles on the opposite ends of said belt and each having hooks, and an endless chain, any of the links of which may be engaged by said hooks to connect the ends of said belt and to vary the length of the belt, said chain being made of a plurality of alternately arranged rigid links and spiral links, each adjacent pair of rigid links being connected by a spiral link having at least two turns of the spiral arranged in contact with each other and cemented together.

6. A garment belt comprising a portion made of alternately arranged main links and connecting links pivotally connected to each other, said main links having pivot portions near the ends thereof and said connecting links having undercut grooves formed in a face thereof, into which said pivot portions may be pressed and in which they are pivotally held, and buckles for the ends of said belt, one end of each of said buckles having an undercut groove formed therein in which said pivot portions of adjacent main links are arranged, and means for connecting said end buckles to each other.

7. An ornamental belt made of a series of connected links of molded plastic material and having end buckles secured to the ends of said series of links, hooks formed on said end buckles by means of which the buckles may be connected with each other, said buckles each having a hole formed therein extending from the inner face of the buckle into proximity to the outer face thereof, and each of said hooks having a part fitting into said hole and cemented in place therein.

CARL G. MARQUARDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

